Godfrey Hodgson’s book boldly attempts to evaluate the last forty years of American social, political, economic, and technological history.  Hodgson, a former Washington correspondent for The Observer, has written an elegantly reasoned book that is well-balanced in its approach.  He does not at any time simply descend into condemning any particular ideology and levels his analytical eye at both Democrats and Republicans while giving a moderate and revealing account of America during the so-called conservative ascendancy. 

The book is neatly organized under chapter titles that allow the reader to hone their interest in a particular aspect of American politics, especially useful for the student who needs to concentrate on an issue for an assignment.  The most impressive chapters are those relating to immigration, gender, and southern US identity, which give a valuable historical appreciation of their subject and focuses on contemporary problems of each theme.  While Hodgson builds up his argument through thorough historical study he gives his personal observations in a manner which is highly persuasive.

Hodgson reveals that many of our assumptions about America are based on mythologizing.  No more is this the case than when discussing the creation and development of the Internet, which was based firmly in the industrial military complex and the elite universities of the US, rather than, as is popularly believed, a technological revolution by maverick entrepreneurs.  Similarly, Hodgson is not hoodwinked by the rhetoric of politicians, seeing US politics as a “species of industry” with “teams of professional advisers, consultants, and experts…manipulating public opinion” (p.57).  Wisely, Hodgson gives himself (and us) a warning: “The first duty of those who would understand what has happened in the age of hype is to be aware of hype” (p.105). 

Where the book truly becomes illuminating is the social aspects of American society, particularly its perspective on the wealth gap, women, and immigration debates.  However, Hodgson paints an overall depressing picture of the American polity.  The US wealth gap is growing wider with, seemingly, no-one able to reverse or slow this trend.  Hodgson proceeds to lament the effect this wealth gap has on the American political and social system and it is not a pretty picture, overturning the ideological underpinnings of what it means to be American: “A society…sharply segregated by income, influenced and manipulated by corporate managers through media…and obliged, in order to survive and to have any hope of seeing its dreams come true, to be obsessed by money, risked turning away from much that had been best in the American tradition” (p.248).  While Hodgson is not overly pessimistic about US society, it is difficult to come away from the book without feeling that it is a difficult journey to traverse the path back to American fundamental values of liberal democracy and egalitarianism.

This book is aimed at a general audience, which allows it to be eminently readable and never underestimates the reader’s aptitude.  It would be extremely useful to students at all levels who are looking for an edge to their essays by having a contemporary opinion based on fact expressed in a highly persuasive manner.